Overview: Product development teams put a lot of effort into designing and producing new and innovative products, but if these do not reach the end of their shelf life, then that effort is wasted. 

The redesign or reformulation of an existing product can be more difficult than expected. The transfer from development kitchen to pilot and then full-scale production can itself be fraught with problems. What are the key sensory and microbiological factors that influence shelf life, and how do they interplay with each other? How do we define spoilage; is it important to differentiate between sensory or physical spoilage and microbiological spoilage? Can you accelerate (and therefore shorten) the process of determining shelf life, either sensory/physical or microbiological? 

This course will give a good introduction to many of the problems that can reduce the shelf life of foods and beverages, and the methods of controlling problems and extending shelf life. Food and beverage manufacturers are under increasing pressure to extend the shelf life of their products and therefore knowing how to determine and lengthen the shelf life of a food product is vital.